1. Field of the Invention
This application is directed to an image forming system, an image forming apparatus, and an information processing apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional image forming apparatus forms image blocks on a sheet based on image data. The conventional image forming apparatus cuts the sheet every designated block number (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-97008, and corresponding published application US2010/0098445).
A strip printer (continuous medium printer) is a type of an image forming apparatus that forms image blocks on an elongated continuous printing sheet that is subsequently cut into segments. The sheet is typically paper or other flexible material, perhaps with an adhesive on one side. A label printer is an example of a strip printer. The image blocks of some label printers consist of single characters such as numbers or letters. Other label printers form image blocks consisting of a plurality of characters and/or other visual depictions, such as pictures, designs, symbols, or so forth. A poster printer is another example of a strip printer. Here, the sheet is typically a continuous paper or other flexible film and the image blocks may consist of pictures/or written material or designs. The image blocks may also consist of portions of a larger image, with these portions later being fit together to form, for example, a billboard advertisement.
However, when the total number of image blocks formed on the sheet is not a multiple of a designated number of blocks that are to be printed on a segment that will subsequently be cut from the sheet, except possibly the last segment that is cut, which will hereafter be called blocks per segment, a cutting position on the sheet is different depending on whether the printing is conducted in a normal (forward) order or a reverse order. For example, consider a case in which a sheet on which five image blocks are formed is to be cut every 3 image blocks. When the printing order is the normal order, the sheet is divided into a segment corresponding to the first image block, the second image block and the third image block, and into another segment corresponding to the forth image block and the fifth image block. On the other hand, when the printing order is the reverse order, the sheet is divided into a segment corresponding to the first image block and the second image block, and into another segment corresponding to the third image block, the forth image block and the fifth image block.
Therefore, when image blocks are formed on a sheet, the user cannot obtain a desired result that is independent of the printing order.